Smoking articles, such as cigarettes, cigars and the like have commonly been wrapped in either paper, such as the common cigarette paper, in tobacco leaves, such as cigar wrapper, or in a wrapper formed from what is commonly referred to as reconstituted tobacco. The latter, for example, consists of a modified tobacco composition which is composed of tobacco plant parts in combination with various binders. Such wrappers have been described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,483,874 in the name of one of the present inventors; U.S. Pat. No. 3,125,098 to Osborne; U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,416,537; 3,496,947; and 3,499,453 to Townend and U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,893,400; 2,927,588; and 3,062,688 to Detard.
The present invention embodies a unique wrapper which provides a combination of properties which has not heretofore been obtainable with the wrappers now known in the art and which provides, in a single material, a wrapper for a smoking article having the following advantages and distinctive features:
1. It has a novel appearance and can, if desired, be transparent. PA1 2. It can be made non-porous or with varying degrees of porosity, as desired. PA1 3. When a wrapper which was made in accordance with the present invention was employed in a smoking article, it was found to contribute a very mild flavor to the smoke, when the smoking article embodying it was smoked. PA1 4. When a wrapper which was made in accordance with the present invention was employed in cigarettes, it was found, upon smoking, to be less irritating and to be preferred by most smokers who tested it in comparison with cigarettes having conventional cigarette papers and with little cigars having reconstituted tobacco wrappers. PA1 5. By virtue of its ability to shrink at the char line when smoked, it can greatly reduce the side-stream smoke of tobacco smoking products. PA1 6. It has been found that smoking articles made with wrappers which were prepared in accordance with the present invention had superior shelf life to cigarettes having conventional paper wrappers and did not develop spots, when stored under conditions of relative humidity as high as 85% r.h. PA1 7. As will be set forth later in this specification, certain wrappers of the present invention also have the advantage that they are self-adhesive when moistened with water and, therefore, may not require the application of an adhesive during their fabrication into a smoking product. PA1 1. About 2/3 of the water and all of the glycerol were placed in a Waring blendor which was set for moderate shear. Pectin was sifted fairly rapidly into the vortex. The magnesium hydroxide (previously dispersed in the balance of the water) was added after a few moments. PA1 2. The glycerol was dissolved in the isopropyl alcohol and the pectin was added to form a creamy slurry. The magnesium hydroxide was dispersed in most of the water. This suspension was dumped suddenly into the pectin slurry (all at once) so as to create violent agitation and dispersion, and mixing was continued with a large spoon or paddle. A little more water was added to reduce the viscosity. PA1 600 g. 62 DM pectin PA1 240 g. triethylene glycol PA1 150 g. CaCO.sub.3 PA1 30 g. Mg(OH).sub.2 PA1 12 l water, and